Travis was raised by a single mom with his siblings in Burbank, CA, and grew up in the greater Los Angeles area. He found early interests in football, dirt biking, and MMA fighting, where he competed at the open class level. After graduating high school in 1995, Travis worked locally for a few years before he felt like he needed a change.

In 1997, Travis enlisted in the Army in hopes that he would be able to jump out of planes. He completed both Basic Training and Airborne School before first being stationed in Italy for three years. At that point, he decided to leave the Army and move back to the Palmdale area.

After the tragedy of September 11th, Travis re-enlisted in the Army. His unit was the first to field test and deploy a new military vehicle, the Stryker, all within a year. They were deployed to Mozule, Iraq in 2004, where Travis became the vehicle commander. Travis served this first deployment and then a year later Travis was back in Baghdad for another deployment.

On November 27th, 2006, six months into his deployment, Travis was sitting in the turret of the Stryker when his vehicle was hit by an EFP (Explosively Formed Penetrator), tearing through the metal siding and hitting Travis’ legs. His right leg was lost immediately upon impact. Travis tried to make his way out of the Stryker, but blacked out. Travis woke up in a field hospital in Baghdad with his entire platoon in the room, realizing this was the last time that he would be together with this group of men. 

Recovery at Walter Reed was a long and painful process. Travis ended up losing his left leg as well, and is now a double above knee amputee. He endured pain in many ways: physical, emotional, and mental. One of the things he struggled with the most were the “what ifs”. Instead of pushing everything down into a dark place, Travis started sharing his story. As he shared, the pain began to slowly shift to healing, and it has played a critical role on his journey towards recovery. 

Today, Travis embodies what it means to “Defy Impossible”. He doesn’t let anything stop him from accomplishing his goals, including a lot of outdoor hiking. He has already submitted several mountains in the U.S., and his next challenge is Mount Kilimanjaro in April 2021.